Hamlet Power Corrupts

In William Shakespeare's Hamlet, power shifts multiple times through a multitude of characters, but this power shift would best be characterized by a quote from John Steinbeck. His quote states, "Power does not corrupt. Fear corrupts... perhaps the fear of a loss of power." Throughout the play Hamlet, characters are confronted with an imbalance of power, the theft of power, and the fear of losing it. Before the play has actually even started a main character has died, King Hamlet, through an imbalance of power. King Hamlet was killed off screen by his brother and successor Claudius, his death was characterized by the pouring of poison into his ear while he was asleep. King Hamlet was completely vulnerable to his assailant brother; his brother Claudius had a power advantage, and was a coward for killing King Hamlet while he was resting. This act of killing King Hamlet that Claudius commits literally sets the stage of the whole play, it is what drives Prince Hamlet to avenge his father in the first place, it gives him power. Also, this same act allowed Claudius to become the King of Denmark, effectively giving him an outrageous amount of power with few limitations. …show more content…
King Claudius is definitely the antagonist of Hamlet, and because the majority of William Shakespeare's plays are tragedies, he kills a couple of people while trying to protect his power. Later on in the play, King Claudius begins to think that Prince Hamlet is plotting to avenge his father's death, so he sends him off to England to be executed. From a little bit before the prologue of the play to near the very end, King Claudius has gone from a brother, to a murderer and corrupt leader. King Claudius' decisions to protect his power and fear Hamlet ultimately led him to the death of Polonius, Ophelia, Laertes, Hamlet, his brother's previous wife and now his wife Queen Gertrude, and his own